Lauren Stiller Rikleen is a nationally recognized expert on developing a thriving, diverse and multi-generational workforce.  As President of the Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership, Lauren conducts workshops, speaks at conferences, retreats, and professional events, and provides training programs focusing on: unconscious bias; strengthening intergenerational relationships in the workplace; and women’s leadership and advancement.  She brings to each engagement a commitment to creating an effective and successful workplace through a culture of inclusion and engagement.

Lauren is also the Executive-in-Residence at the Boston College Center for Work & Family in the Carroll School of Management.  Established in 1990, the Center links academic research and corporate practice to create workplace cultures that support individual and organizational success.

Lauren is the author of You Raised Us – Now Work With Us: Millennials, Career Success, and Building Strong Workplace Teams.  This book provides new insights and rebuts old stereotypes about Millennials as they begin their careers in the midst of an economic crisis, and offers practical recommendations for all generations to help navigate their differences.

Lauren is also the author of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law, and Success Strategies for Women Lawyers.  Lauren has authored more than 130 articles, including topical commentary and op ed pieces in major media outlets.

As a former law firm equity partner, Lauren managed a diverse environmental law practice, bringing her strategic and negotiating skills to her clients’ enforcement and compliance problems.  Lauren is also an experienced mediator.  For two decades, Lauren was selected by her peers to be listed in Best Lawyers in America.  She has also been included in Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers and Massachusetts Super Lawyers.

Lauren is the recipient of numerous awards. In 2011, she received the “Friend of the Division” Award from the Law Student Division of the American Bar Association for her guidance, support, and mentorship and was honored by the Boston College Law School Women’s Law Center as its Woman of the Year.  Among her other honors, Lauren was a 2010 Leading Women Award recipient from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, a recipient of the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly 2009 Women of Justice Award, the 2007 Barbara Gray Humanitarian Award from Voices Against Violence, the 2005 Lelia J. Robinson Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, the Boston College 2004 Alumni Award for Excellence in Law, and the Boston College Law School 75th Anniversary Alumni Medal.  In 1997, the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce named her Business Leader of the Year, and she was the 2001 winner of its Athena Award.

Lauren brings an extraordinary background of leadership positions in professional and community organizations to her work at the Rikleen Institute.  Lauren’s current leadership roles within the American Bar Association include:  Member, Presidential Task Force on Gender Equity; Chair-Elect, Individual Rights & Responsibilities Section; Co-Chair, Women’s Caucus; and is a member of the Board of Editors of the ABA Journal.  She also serves the American Bar Foundation as a Special Advisor to the Board of Directors and as the Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Fellows.  She previously served as a member of the ABA Board of Governors, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, and the ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. She is also a former Boston Bar Association President, and a founder and past president of both MetroWest Harvest and the Women’s Independence Network.

Lauren is a Trustee of Middlesex Savings Bank and a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus.  She is also a founding member of the Council for Women of Boston College.

Lauren has written for or been interviewed by such publications and media outlets as:  The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, MSNBC, National Public  Radio, Fortune.com, The National Law Journal, Forbes Woman, the Careerist, WBZ Radio, New England Cable News Network, The Boston Business Journal, New York Lawyer, The Glass Hammer, Legal Management, Exchange Morning Post, Women’s Health, Monster’s Legal Career Center, LawCrossing, the Board Room, Know Magazine, JD Journal, The Detroiter and The Public Record.  Lauren is also a contributor to the Harvard Business Review Blog Network and to Cognoscenti (the blog for the Boston station of National Public Radio, WBUR).